The Rule of St. Benedict: Chapter 7 pt. 5
In St. Luke's Gospel, Jesus describes the "good soil" in the Parable of the Sower as "the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance." Goodness in soil is a set of conditions that can come and go and that, without perseverance in maintaining them, are likely to be lost.
As our Father Benedict seeks to orient our hearts towards a pervasive awareness of God's presence in our every moment, he admonishes us to beware of the strong forces within us that would rather operate without the awareness of God. It is our lusts, our desires that overpower our ability to act reasonably from an honest and good heart, that compromise the conditions of our good soil and prevent us from bearing the fruit we are called to bear into the world. And if there is anything in the human experience that requires patient endurance and our best effort, it is dealing with the strong forces within us that pull our gaze from the steady gaze of God.
But God does not leave us alone in this effort. This passage mentions the role of angels as agents of God's care. The overwhelming theme of this first step of humility is that we are not alone in our lives, and we ought not pretend that we are. We move and have our being in realms seen and unseen.
Br. Chad
As an aside, I am very fond of Rublev's Trinity icon.
ReplyDeleteHaving moved to the desert from a life in non-desert-like landscapes, I've found that there are different ways for soil to be "good." Seems like Father Benedict is describing rich soil, the kind that allows plants to become deeply rooted. The thing is, desert soil is sandy and doesn't allow for deep roots, but many plants do grow and thrive here--and when there are weeds, even tall ones, they are far easier to pluck out from the desert soil than rich soil. Removing a deeply rooted weed from rich soil is like digging up a grave.
So if we are to be the rich kind of good soil, we have the additional challenge of making sure that we take care with what we allow to grow in it. If we are rich soil, we are in much greater danger of allowing something to grow in it that will eventually choke out the beautiful plants God has chosen to plant there. I find this to be true in my own life. I suppose daily prayer, reading of the Rule, and works of mercy are the tools Benedictines use for daily weeding.